


things better left unsaid

by damedanbo



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime 2001), Fruits Basket (Anime 2019), Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Childhood Memories, Dreams and Nightmares, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 19:36:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18556423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damedanbo/pseuds/damedanbo
Summary: "I don't remember," Yuki said softly, looking away."You said you remembered everything to do with Akito," Kyou said pointedly."I came in here to check on you, not to hurt you. Just because you don't care about my feelings doesn't mean I don't care about yours."





	things better left unsaid

"Do you want to play together?" the red haired boy asked, picking up the dropped ball. The other boy stared right through him. 

"No."

There had to have been a time where he thought he was normal. It must have been before he was old enough to remember. Somewhere in the years between birth and long-term memory was the secret to pretending to be normal.

_Such a shame, she had a cat child._

The other boy held out his hands, and Kyou reluctantly handed over the red ball. It was snatched from his palms immediately. The boy with the grey hair turned and walked away, stopping only to throw another blow over his shoulder.

"I don't play with demons."

  


Kyou jolted awake, sweating. It had been a while since he'd dreamed like that. That time he'd met Yuki, back when they were both kids... It had been a long time ago, but he still remembered it vividly. The cherry blossoms blooming over the estate grounds, the way Yuki had looked at him...

Demon.

Kyou dragged a hand down his face, shivering. It was spring, and the snow had melted, but it wasn't really warm out yet. By no means cold enough to use the kotatsu, but also not warm enough to go out without a jacket yet. Kyou sighed, laying back down in his futon, and rolled over onto his side. He froze.

Yuki stood in the doorway, staring in at him curiously.

A moment passed where neither of them moved. Kyou's instinct was to yell at Yuki for sneaking up on him, throw something, or downright attack him.

"What do you want," he croaked instead.

"You were making noise," Yuki said simply. "It sounded like you were in distress."

Fuck. So he'd made it real obvious he was having a bad dream.

"It's nothing. Go away," Kyou said, rolling onto his other side, back to Yuki.

"Try not to wake Tohru up with your yowling," Yuki said cooly, turning to leave.

"Why you--!" Kyou sat up, hurling his pillow at the back of Yuki's head. Yuki caught it effortlessly, spun around, and flew across the room to smack Kyou upside the head with it.

"Enough." Yuki dropped the pillow into Kyou's lap. They glared at one another, neither of them moving.

"You don't know what it's like," Kyou said finally. He wasn't even sure why he said it.

"You think I don't have bad dreams sometimes?"

"Nope."

Yuki stared at him hard. Kyou looked away, starting to feel stupid for having said it.

"I dream about Akito all the time," Yuki said finally. "Goodnight."

"Wait," Kyou sighed. He was still too shaken to sleep, and he couldn't let Yuki go dropping bombs like that without talking about it. "What kind of dreams."

"That's none of your business," Yuki said. "Just go to sleep."

"I can't," Kyou croaked.

Yuki sighed. He was silent for a long moment, then he sat down, legs crossed next to Kyou's futon.

"I dreamed about the first time we met," Kyou said, not looking at him.

"Ah," Yuki murmured. He sounded unfazed. Did he remember that time? It had been so long ago. Maybe he didn't. "I suppose you want me to apologize for that."

"So you do remember."

"Of course I do. I remember everything to do with Akito."

Kyou jerked upright again, staring at him. "What?"

"You don't remember? Akito was there."

Kyou gaped at him. "Close your mouth," Yuki said finally, and Kyo did.

"Why was Akito there?" Kyou asked, mouth dry.

"I was playing outside his window," Yuki said, "and then you came over." He didn't elaborate further.

"...And?" Kyou asked. "What happened?"

"I told you to go away, didn't I?"

"You called me a demon."

"Well, I suppose I did."

"What did Akito say?" He couldn't remember that part, hadn't even realized that Akito was there. All those times he'd dreamt of that moment, he'd never once seen the man there.

"I don't remember," Yuki said softly, looking away.

"You said you remembered everything to do with Akito," Kyou said pointedly.

"I came in here to check on you, not to hurt you. Just because you don't care about my feelings doesn't mean I don't care about yours. Excuse me." Yuki moved to stand, but Kyou grabbed his wrist, pulling him back down.

"Tell me what Akito said."

"No."

"I have a right to know."

"You have no right to my memories."

"Tell me!" Kyou yelled, and Yuki shushed him with a hand over his mouth.

"You'll wake Tohru."

"I want to know," Kyou whispered back.

"Do you want to know because you think it'll be good for you, or because you want to hurt yourself? Because I'm not going to help with the latter."

Kyou didn't answer, but held onto Yuki's wrist.

"Was I there when he said it?" Kyou asked finally, "or did he say it after I left?"

"You left. Then he spoke. That's all that I can tell you."

It must have been something bad, Kyou knew. But what? What did Akito have on him back then, when he was just a child? Something to do with the curse, probably.

Yuki said something, so quietly that Kyou wasn't sure. He leaned in, but Yuki shook his head.

"What did you say?"

"I'm not going to say it again."

"It's not fair for you to have dirt on me like this."

"Too bad."

"Come on, damn rat. You're always doing shit like this, but you know you want to tell me just as bad as I want to know. You wouldn't have said anything at all if you didn't. You're just as bad as me."

"So I'm as bad as you. I can live with that." Yuki yanked his wrist out of Kyou's grasp. "You should be happy not to know. Akito is a cruel man."

"It's just as cruel to leave me wondering," Kyou said, watching Yuki stand and head towards the door.

"It's kinder than the truth," Yuki said. "Be grateful." He opened the door, and there stood Tohru, hands clasped anxiously in front of her.

"Um, I heard voices..."

"I told you you would wake her up," Yuki sighed.

"Me?!"

"Actually, the truth is..." Tohru wrung her hands together. "I had a nightmare, and... I couldn't get back to sleep, so..."

The boys blinked at her. Yuki's expression softened. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Tohru stepped past him into the bedroom. "Actually, um... if we could all just be together for a little bit, I would feel a lot better. But I understand if that's not okay! I don't want to make either of you uncomfortable, so--!"

Tohru being Tohru, she managed to slip on her own sock, and fell right into Yuki--who disappeared into a plume of smoke.  She fell onto Kyou, who similarly transformed, and lay on her face, apologizing profusely to both of the boys. Yuki sighed, walking over to pat her head with his little paw, and Kyou twitched his tail in agitation.

"Stay as long as you'd like, Tohru-chan. We're here for you."

"Thank you," Tohru whimpered, voice thick with emotion. Kyou lifted his head.

"Are you crying?"

"It was a really bad dream," Tohru admitted.

Kyou put a paw on Tohru's head, and she lifted her face, blinking away tears to look at him.

"It's okay to cry. But you're not alone. Just so you know."

Tohru nodded, face scrunched up as fresh tears bubbled over and ran down her cheeks. "Thank you, Kyou-kun," she sniffled, sitting up and pulling the cat into a hug. Kyou protested at first, but soon went ragdoll-limp, giving in to his fate.

"Tohru-chan," Yuki said, and Tohru looked tearfully down at him. “Dreams and memories can hurt. But it’s the present that heals us.”

Tohru sniffled, squeezing Kyou tighter. “Thank you, both of you,” she cried, tears dripping onto Kyou’s head and making his ears twitch. “You’re both such kind people.” She rubbed her eyes, covering her face as the two of them turned back into humans and covered themselves up.

It was after midnight when Tohru fell asleep, curled up in Kyou’s futon. The boys sat on either side of her, not talking

“I think Akito was wrong,” Yuki said, a long time after Tohru had fallen asleep. Kyou lifted his drooping head.

“About?”

“He said things would be better if you died.” Kyou flinched. “But he was wrong. Things are better because you’re living.”

“...Thanks,” Kyou said finally, looking away. “I wish you hadn’t told me that.”

Yuki let out an annoyed sigh. “Then don’t bother me so much next time. Stupid cat.”

Kyou smiled to himself. “Damn rat.”

Between them, Tohru smiled, dreaming peacefully.


End file.
